Wrench



0. B. McCLURKIN.

WRENCH. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9.1920- 1,367,408. Patented Feb. 1,1921.

lNVE/VTOR @744 M, "611.1 eu- Aflomej' UNITED STATES OAK B. MCCL'URKIN,0F MORNING SUN, IOWA.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

Application filed February 9, 1920. Serial No. 357,279.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, OAK B. MCCLURKIN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Morning Sun, in the county of Louisa and State ofIowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in wrenches and more particularlymeans for retaining the movable jaw in adjusted position,-the object ofthe invention being to provide wrenches of well known types with simpleand eiiicient means for preventing accidental or unintentional movementof the adjusting devices when the movable jaw shall have been adjusted.

\Vith this and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafterset forth and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a view showing the applicationof my improvements to a wrench of that type in which the movable jaw isadjustable in an approximately horizontal direction relatively to thefixed jaw, and Figs. 2 and 3 are,

detail views.

1 represents the bar and handle portion of a wrench and is provided atone end with a head 2 having a part forming a fixed jaw 3. The head ismade hollow for the accommodation of a movable jaw i and a worm rack 5carried thereby, said'jaw 1, with its rack being movable in anapproximately horizontal direction.

A worm nut 6 is rotatably mounted in the hollow head 2 and meshes withthe worm rack 5,--said head being open at its sides, as illustrated at7, to permit access to said worm nut for effecting adjustment of themovable jaw. The worm nut is provided across its threads with severalseries of alining notches or grooves 8 having beveled walls and in anyone of which series of notches or grooves, a spring-pressed latch 9 isadapted to engage to hold the nut and hence the movable jaw againstaccidental or unintentional displacement from the positions to which thesame may be adjusted. Thelatch 9 is made approximately U-shaped, havinglegs 10 which enter sockets or re cesses 11 in the head portion of thebar 1. The legs 10 are so formed as to provide shoulders 12 againstwhich the forward ends of springs 13 bear,the rear ends of said springsbeing seated at the bottoms of the sockets or recesses 11.

Various changes might be made in the details of construction of myinvention without departing from the spirit thereof or lim iting itsscope and hence I do not wish to restrict myself to the precise detailsherein set forth.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is I In a wrench, the combination of a barhaving a head at one end provided with a fixed jaw, said head having anopening, a movable jaw mounted on said head, a Worm rack carried by themovable jaw and movable in said head, a worm nut mounted in the openingin said head and meshing with said worm rack, said nut having notcheswith beveled walls extending across the worm threads thereon, a latch toengage said notches, said head being socketed adjacent to said latch,and said latch formed to enter the socketed portion of the head, andspring means in said socketed portion of the head acting to press thelatch toward the worm nut.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

OAK B. MQCLURKIN Witnesses:

W. S. BROWN,

F. M. BROWN.

